Community of Practice Implementation

Client:

Lockhurst Drive Charter Elementary

Year:

2024

In my role as the facilitator of our CoP, I led a focused and collaborative initiative to address the decline in mathematics proficiency among 3rd to 5th-grade students. This critical task was driven by alarming student data showing a 29% decrease in students meeting or exceeding math standards. The collaborative process began with a comprehensive review of the student data. Through this collaborative data analysis, it became evident that a critical area of concern was the effectiveness of facilitating academic conversations during math instruction. We identified this as our problem of practice, recognizing that improved instructional strategies in this area could lead to increased content mastery. Our discussions highlighted the need for more dynamic and engaging teacher-student interactions in math classes. As we evaluated various instructional strategies, group members actively contributed their insights, drawing from their experiences and expertise. The journey to consensus was marked by several key steps that underscored the importance of every member's voice, ensuring that our approach was grounded in collective wisdom and fostered a sense of ownership and commitment among the CoP members. As detailed in our minutes, this collaborative decision-making process led to a unanimous vote agreeing that teachers must enhance their facilitation of academic conversations in math instruction. Moving forward, our focus will be on implementing and refining instructional strategies that address this identified problem, with a continuous commitment to improving the learning and well-being of our students.